Although the massive 10-year deal is important, it is unclear at this point whether the 10 vendors are suspending work or continuing to work on the cloud migration while the DOI is closed.

While seven of the 10 companies were unable to be reached, Verizon and GTRI declined to comment on behalf of its government customer.

According to Ted Davies, president of Unisys Federal Systems, the company is engaged in diminishing the effect of the government shutdown. Presently, the employees of Unisys are continuing to work in support of the government's requests, said Davies.

"Unisys Federal Systems is focused on minimizing the impact of the shutdown on our government clients and our people," said Davies. "To that end, we are taking all possible steps to support our teams in the field who work on behalf of our federal customers."

Unisys is currently taking direction from its federal government customers in terms of the level of support that Unisys will provide during the shutdown on a contract-by-contract basis, said Davies.

Due to the failure in reaching a compromise on government funding, the doors of the government will remain shut indefinitely, and current projects are expected to slow down. While some federal employees are out of commission for the time being, some are still continuing to work without pay.

As a result of the shutdown, many solution providers are shying away from working with the government because of its unstable ground. According to Steve Halligan, COO of n2Grate Government Technology Solutions, solution providers will see the effect of the shutdown, and the Greenbelt, Md.-based company has remained apprehensive. Halligan said his employees are picking up the work that government employees are prohibited from doing for the time being.

"We're definitely nervous. We're on a handful of government contracts. Fortunately, we haven't lost billable work based on unfunded contracts, but we know this can only last so long," said Halligan. "We're hoping and praying some of the legislative logjam will be fixed in short order. The reality, too, is that every day that this continues, the government will be two days behind."

While federal employees are not on the job, the shutdown also impacts new bookings or new contract signings imperative to n2Grate's business, Halligan said.

XChange Solution Provider 2015 is finally upon us and the timing couldn't be better. The premier channel event is happening March 1-3 in Dallas, bringing together 225 solution provider decision makers from across North America. CRN is at the event to provide news, analysis and a firsthand take from partners.